Maresca faces media ahead of City's Champions League opener against Porto

Enzo Maresca held his pre-match press conference on Tuesday evening ahead of Manchester City’s Champions League opener against Porto in Portugal on Wednesday night, with the Blues carrying injury concerns into their first European fixture of the season.

Nico O’Reilly and Jeremy Doku were both absent from City’s Monday training session, casting doubt over their availability for the trip to Porto. New signing Allan, however, trained with the squad and is in contention after missing the weekend matchday squad entirely.

Maresca was joined at the press conference by right-back Nunes, who has a personal connection to the fixture — the defender spent three years at Porto’s domestic rivals Sporting before his move to the Premier League with Wolves.

City arrive in Portugal in good form. Saturday’s 1-0 win over Coventry extended their Premier League record to three wins from three under Maresca, and the defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield has quickly faded from memory. Porto, meanwhile, have been equally impressive domestically, winning all five of their opening Liga Portugal matches and conceding their first goal of the season only on Friday against Moreirense.

The Champions League trip is the first of two major tests in quick succession for Maresca’s squad. City travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Sunday, making this week arguably the stiffest examination of his tenure so far.